Iran calls for global reaction to Israeli minister’s provocative al-Aqsa tour

Iran has condemned the desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound by an extremist Israeli minister, calling on the international community to respond to the provocative move.

On Sunday, Israel’s far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was escorted by occupation troops, stormed al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, in al-Quds’ Old City. 

“Such audacious and provocative moves are another aspect of the widespread and continuous crimes of the apartheid Zionist regime against the Palestinian nation, as well as the religious and Islamic sanctities of this land,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said on Monday.

“They require an effective, swift and deterrent reaction from the Muslim world and the international community,” he added.

Kan’ani made clear that Holy al-Quds is Palestine’s unified and eternal capital and it will remain so, and the Israeli regime’s successive attacks against this city and its Islamic sanctuaries will not change its reality and historical status quo.

During his incursion into the al-Aqsa Mosque complex on Sunday morning, Ben-Gvir claimed that the Israeli regime was “in charge here,” drawing a wave of condemnations.

Israeli media said the minister had not coordinated his visit with the Jordanian Waqf, the body that oversees the site.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said “Ben-Gvir’s incursion at an early hour, like thieves, into the al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards will not change the reality and will not impose Israeli sovereignty over it.”

The Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement said on its Telegram channel that Israel would “bear responsibility for the barbaric incursions of its ministers and herds of settlers.”

Condemnations pour in after Ben-Gvir claims Israel ‘in charge’ during al-Aqsa raid

Escorted by the regime troops, the minister claimed Israel

Saudi Arabia also strongly condemned Ben-Gvir’s al-Aqsa visit as “a flagrant violation of all international norms and covenants” as well as a provocation to the sentiments of Muslims worldwide.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “holds the Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for the repercussions of the continuation of these violations.”

The Islamic authority of Waqf (Endowment) that oversees Muslim holy sites in Israeli-occupied al-Quds also denounced the incursion as a "blatant storming and desecration of the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque,” saying the Israeli minister's "provocative” actions are a "dangerous and unacceptable escalation.”

The Grand Mufti of al-Quds Sheikh Muhammad Hussein told the Arab News daily that the incursions by Israeli ministers and lawmakers would not change the al-Aqsa’s existing legal, religious and historical status as an Islamic mosque for Muslims alone.

Back in January, Ben Gvir paid a similar provocative visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, sparking furious condemnations from the Arab world.

Only Muslims are allowed to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under a status quo arrangement originally reached more than a century ago. Non-Muslim visitors are allowed visits at certain times and only to certain areas.

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